It Started Like This
by S J Smith
Summary: If Roy thought about it, it made sense.
1. It Started Like This

**Title:** It Started Like This

**Author:** S J Smith

**Rating:** K+

**Disclaimer: **Do you see a copyright on this? No? Well, that should be enough to prove I don't own it, nor am I making any money.

**Summary: **If Roy thought about it, it made sense.

* * *

_It started like this:_

"Uncle Roy's on the telephone, Elicia! Do you want to talk to him?"

On the other end of the line, Roy gritted his teeth. "Hughes, I called to talk to you, not - "

"He'o, Unca Woy," Elicia lisped.

Mentally, he counted to ten. "Hello, Elicia. How are you?"

"Fiiiiine," she said.

In the background, Roy could hear Hughes whispering, "Tell him what you learned today!"

"I went potty by mysef!" Elicia hesitated. "I forgotted to wipe, though, so I hadda have a baff."

Roy closed his eyes, counting to a hundred.

X X X

It was a ridiculously beautiful day, with a bright sun beaming from a nearly-cloudless sky, making the green sward vibrant and the marble monuments glow. Roy took a deep breath, seeing two people already at the gravesite, not at all surprised. The little girl watched as her mother brushed away some bit of dirt from the top of the stone. Gracia knelt down to pull some grass, tossing it aside.

Roy considered returning later, his fingers brushing over the bottle of whiskey in his coat pocket, but Elicia saw him, and pointed. Gracia sank back on her haunches, shading her eyes, and waved tentatively. He could only continue forward now, the cadenced gait he'd learned so many years ago putting him in front of the small family far sooner than he really wanted. "Good afternoon, Gracia, Elicia," he said.

"Hello, Roy." She smiled, brushing at her bangs with the back of her wrist. "I'm glad to see you here." She touched the stone. "I'm sure Maes is, too."

He wished he could believe that, that Maes might be watching them from somewhere. Preferably behind that tree, where he could pop out and say, "Surprise!" That was a ridiculous dream, though, and one he couldn't entertain. "I'd like to thank so." Squatting next to Gracia, Roy pulled at a couple of stems of grass, tossing them aside as Gracia had. "It's nice here."

"For what it is," Gracia shrugged lopsidedly.

"For what it is," Roy agreed.

"Unca Roy?" Elicia stepped closer to him. "We're gonna go get dessert after! You wanna come?"

He blinked, glancing at Gracia, checking her reaction. A fond smile lit her face, and she gave him the faintest of nods. Roy turned back to Elicia. "I'd be honored to, Elicia. Thank you for asking."

X X X

One chance meeting led to another planned one, and another after that. Roy discovered he enjoyed Gracia's company, and Elicia's, far more than he'd expected. When a telephone call came in to his office, he accepted it, ignoring the waggling eyebrows from Breda. "Mustang."

"Unca Roy? Will you come with me to the Father-Daughter blanket?"

He blinked a couple of times, afraid if he asked, Elicia might pout. "Um, yes? When is it?"

She squealed, loud enough that he had to pull the telephone from his ear. "Mom! He said he'd go!" The receiver clunked on the other end.

Roy asked, "Hello? Hello?"

"Roy, sorry. Elicia's a little excited right now," Gracia said.

"All right, I'm glad I made her happy, but what is she talking about, a blanket?"

"Banquet," Gracia enunciated.

"Oh." Well, that was a relief. He really didn't want to even contemplate the other. "I'm still happy to accompany her in Maes's place."

X X X

After the banquet had passed, Gracia said, "In thanks, I'll take you out for a real dinner."

"There is no reason, Gracia. I enjoyed myself. Learning the Aerugan String Dance did wonders for my back."

"I heard you fell," Gracia said dryly.

"No, no, I tripped, and caught myself," Roy scoffed.

"Elicia told Edward you fell." Gracia grinned, more wickedly than Roy expected. "He laughed, a lot."

Eyebrow twitching, Roy felt his thumb and forefinger rubbing together reflexively. "Edward Elric is an ass."

"He called you far worse. I had to remind him he was speaking to a child." She might've made a better impression, if the smirk wasn't fighting to control her mouth.

"Hmph. Keep this up, and I'll insist you take me to the most expensive restaurant in Central."

Gracia's smile grew. "You're on."

"Wait, what?" Roy blinked hard. "Gracia, that's not necessary."

"Oh, no, I've got a lovely dress I'm dying to wear out. And I have an excellent babysitter. Shall we say, next Friday? If I can get reservations?"

Nonplussed, Roy tried to close his mouth. "Um. Yes, that would be fine." He hesitated. "I'll make the reservations, though."

Gracia nodded. "Of course. As a known hero of Amestris, you probably would have better luck getting them." She slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow. "I'm looking forward to this, Roy."

He glanced down at her fingers, nestled on his arm. "Yes," he said slowly, realizing he was telling the truth, "so am I."

X X X

"It started like this," Elicia read from a piece of paper. "My Daddy had a really good friend, but my Daddy died. And for a while, Mom and I were all alone. No one wanted to spend time with us, because they were sad from Daddy's death. But Uncle Roy didn't leave us. He started to visit us, and we started to visit him. And it took time, but we finally figured it out, that maybe, instead of three separate people, we should be a family." She smiled at her Mom, wearing a simple dress, and Uncle Roy – soon to be Papa Roy, dressed in his military blues, holding her hands in front of Fuhrer Grumman, who'd be marrying them. "So, here we are, all together."

Alex Louis Armstrong, in the front row, sniffed loudly and blotted his eyes with a snowy handkerchief. Chris Mustang, also in the front row, smiled at her nephew, giving him a surreptitious thumb's up. Roy smiled back at his aunt, then offered his free hand to Elicia, as Gracia did the same, making them a little triangle as they faced Fuhrer Grumman, so he could perform the ceremony. To Roy's right stood Hawkeye, as his best man, and Mrs. Rockbell-Elric was on Gracia's left, performing the equivalent duties.

"Thanks, buddy," he mentally, and hoped, if he ever saw his best friend again, Hughes wouldn't kick his ass.

X X X


	2. This Is the End

**This Is the End**

X X X

After all is said and done, she's standing on his left flank when he is overwhelmingly proclaimed the first elected president of Amestris. His wife, Gracia, stands next to him with his adopted daughter, Elicia Hughes-Mustang, and Elicia's little brother, Ryan Maes Mustang, is in his mother's arms. In the audience, on the front row, the Elric families cheer, some more enthusiastically than others, and beyond them, Roy can see others who've helped him on his way. He hates the missing faces – Aunt Chris and Maes, notably; and Major General Grumman, but he cannot – will not – allow those losses to color this life.

He leans over and kissed Gracia's cheek, tousles Ryan's hair, and taps Elicia's nose, accepting the final applause before he waves, and guides his family off-stage. Riza Hawkeye follows behind him, at her normal five paces. "Gracia, dear, go ahead on to the party. I know there are people waiting to see you and the kids."

She nods, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Don't be too long," she warns, before leaving him alone, backstage, with Hawkeye.

Now, Roy scrubs at the back of his neck fitfully before turning to Riza. She stands at parade rest, hands clasped behind her back, feet shoulder width apart. Roy takes a deep breath. "Thank you," he says, "for…everything." There are so many things to thank her for – flame alchemy, saving his life, not dying. Sticking with him throughout so many years. Realizing, no matter how much they loved each other, they were too dedicated to what they'd done, creating a new governing body in Amestris, where everyone was protected, not just those the military might deem worthy.

"You're welcome, sir," Riza replies, and if her voice trembles just the tiniest bit, Roy knows she'd pass it off as excitement of the evening, and his winning the election against Olivier Armstrong.

Roy loves his wife, first for how happy she made his best friend, then, how willing she was to take Maes's place as his best friend, finally, as a person in her own right. The time is long past that he could even imagine a life without her, Elicia, and Ryan. But, just for now, in this second, he does – imagines a life with Riza, a life where he never joined the military, where he continued his training with Berthold Hawkeye, where he didn't learn flame alchemy. Where, eventually, he proved his worth to his master, and Berthold approves their wedding, giving away his beautiful daughter. Where they have children, and Aunt Chris dandles them on her knee, and teaches them secrets that Roy had to fight to learn. Where Grumman is not a commanding officer, but instead, a doting grandparent, who gives the silliest toys imaginable, but also makes sure, when they're old enough, his great-grandchildren know how to shoot to protect themselves.

But then, they wouldn't be standing here, they wouldn't have been part of the team that rescued the entire country on the Promised Day. And, Roy knew, he would've never entered the political arena, and wouldn't be standing on this stage.

"It's been a long, strange trip," Riza says. She smiles, a slow, warm smile, that might not have the sensuous appeal it once did, especially when she had a wedding ring on her finger. "But I wouldn't have missed this, President."

"Roy," he said, not quite a plea.

"Roy," Riza agrees, this last time. She touches his chest, and tilts up her chin to kiss his cheek. "You should get to your party."

"Yes," Roy says, trying to ignore the tingle her kiss left behind. He adjusts the lapels of his coat, smoothes his hand over his hair. "Shall we?"

Riza nods, but he doesn't let her follow behind, but touches her shoulder to make sure she walks beside him, this one time.

X X X


End file.
